Care & Fair
At the beginning of the 1990’s, reports leaked into advanced European countries of illegal child labor practices in the manufacture of carpets in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, arousing a huge wave of indignation and protests. In 1994, in response to these findings, some “enlightened“ carpet importers launched a project named Care & Fair, with the aim of fighting against illegal child labor and improving the living situation of the families involved in the manufacture of handmade carpets in those regions. The project set out two basic areas of aid, namely, education and health care. The main objective was to engage as great a portion of the population in the project as possible, giving consideration to the local needs and conditions. Since the 15 years of its existence, over 450 enterprises have joined the Care & Fair Project. In the Czech Republic, the only company enrolled in the Project, so far, is Bakero Export Import s.r.o. To date, 18 school projects, 10 health care projects, and 2 adult-education projects have been financed in India, Nepal, and Pakistan from the member companies’ contributions.
Whenever a member company enters into a contract with a carpet manufacturer from one of the above-mentioned countries, a supplement is attached to the contract containing the principles of cooperation which expressly preclude employment of children in the carpet manufacture. The importer who discovers that this condition has been violated may withdraw from the contract immediately and terminate all business relations with the manufacturer. The threat of financial loss is almost certainly an adequate motivation for carpet manufacturers not to violate the contractual terms, thus becoming a more effective weapon against illegal child labor that any sanction or threat of prosecution.
According to ILO’s estimation, some 250 million children are believed to be still working in the various industrial regions all over the world. This is still a very high number. Any initiative against this trend is good. Children have the right to enjoying their childhood without hard and exhausting work, and they need education, so as to be able to make the right choices about their career and to earn their own living when they grow up.
The latest information about Care & Fair you can find on the website http://www.care-fair.org/
